Here are the thoughts and images of one who aims humbly for that one treasure known as Enlightenment, Moksha, Nirvana, or The Kingdom of Heaven. I share with the reader the little insight and experience I am given on this quest of Love. I will have nothing new to say, but the way I express it will be genuine and honest. If a single phrase or painting come to be helpful to others, this whole mess will be worth the while.
Well met, traveller.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Weakness of Spiritual Teachings

Those
who could profit most from spiritual teaching have no chance to grasp
them, and those who no longer need the teachings, are the only ones
who fully comprehend their message. If you have never seen a forest,
or a plant, it is impossible to make sense of the green parts on the
map. You can stare at them for hours on end, and yet, you will only
delude yourself while trying to understand them.

We
have all been invited to the greatest party of all, but it seems the
Host wrote encrypted invitation cards, and has only delivered the key
to a lucky few. Most of us have no clue as to where or when the party
is held. Now how do we get hold of this code key?

Can
we trust those who claim to have it? Can, yes, but I wouldn't
recommend it. Walk instead into that silent meadow, where the Manor
of our Host is situated, and sit down upon the grass before His
doorstep, and wait patiently. If He doesn't open the door, come back
again, and do so regularly until you receive it. Don't shout, demand
nothing, and expect nothing, because He can't stand ungrateful
guests. Just remain perfectly still, and as silent as you possibly
can. With some luck, He will allow your presence, and He can't hide
in that House of His forever, can he?

When
it comes to pass, that you make out His silhouette through the window
by the door, something will happen inside of you that you cannot
explain, and going back to that card of invitation, it will suddenly
make sense to you. Though the words looked like real words even
before, you will now see that though you could read them, you missed
out on their meaning. You may now read them for the first time, and
they will tell you what you already know. Because in that brief
glance of the Host, something utterly silent was communicated, and in
you the full invitation is now made visible - written on your
very being. Reading the card will pull these words from your
innermost self and into your mind, so that they may make sense also
on that level. Welcome to the party!

On these issues Paul writes very well:

"The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it..." (1 Corinthians 3:2)

A 14th century Zen Buddhist Master puts it this way:

“Even if, for example, one were to read a thousand sutras and ten thousand sastas, if the Dharma eye has not been opened, this Buddha wisdom would not be clear. One who has not clearly penetrated Buddha wisdom will not understand even one line of sutra.”

If,
before this experience, you find something intriguing, exciting,
slightly attractive, or mysterious, in spiritual scripture or
teachings, stay with them, but keep them open, and keep yourself
open. Don't make up your mind about them, and don't let anyone else
make up your mind for you. Accept that you do not know, and seek the
Lord primarily in Life rather than in Scripture. A straw of grass, on the lawn
outside the Church building, has more Truth and substance than the
entire Bible. Touch the hand of another human being once, and you
will have come closer to the Truth than you will through a lifetime
of lofty ideas and thinking.

No
book in the world can affect The Lord's presence and infinite being.
If we'd rather read a tourist guide to Mount Everest than climbing
the Mountain, we can do so, but though very importantly, it can
direct us to the tracks most suitable for climbing, it does a poor
job with replacing the experience of the Mountain, which, we have to
understand, doesn't come or go with books or words.